MORE: Tickets are passed out by 10 a.m. the day of the signing for your place in line. Only one ticket per person who is present. For more rules of etiquette, go to www.ttp books.com and click on Event Rules & Etiquette

BOONSBORO — When it comes to vampires, Charlaine Harris doesn't see them as evil, cloak-wearing characters from a Bram Stoker novel.

Instead, she likes to think of them as people living alternative lifestyles.

They're outrageous, audacious, steamy and funny.

And they love to have a bloody good time.

Harris will be the first to admit she's no expert on vampires. But she does know how to write a series of books that people can sink their teeth into.

And her fans will have a chance to meet her at the Washington Romance Writers' mega book signing event 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, April 16, at Turn the Page Bookstore Cafe in Boonsboro. She will be joined by more than a dozen other writers, including Nora Roberts.

The event precedes the annual retreat of the Washington Romance Writers, a chapter of the Romance Writers of America, that serves writers in the Washington, D.C., area